Delaware eases restrictions on restaurants, bars, sports as cases continue to surge: What to know

Starting Friday, Delaware bars and restaurants will no longer have a curfew, and the state is easing restrictions on sports competitions.

Gov. John Carney announced the eased restrictions in a press release on Friday. 

The state's stay-at-home advisory and mandate that everyone wear a mask when indoors with people whom they don't live with, including in private settings, are still in place.

Restaurants and bars still have to have "prominently displayed" signage on the table stating that parties have to be from the same household, the Friday release said. The establishments also have to have messaging on masking compliance.

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All sports games, matches and competitions are allowed to resume at 30% maximum occupancy — which includes athletes, coaches and other staff — after Carney put a temporary ban on winter sports in mid-December. 

One person can now accompany an athlete and not be included in that 30% capacity limit, but additional people are not allowed.

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Anyone who participates in an out-of-state sports competition has to immediately quarantine in accordance with Division of Public guidelines once they return to Delaware or for the duration of their time in Delaware, whichever period is shorter.

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Teams participating in any practice or competition where COVID-19 spread is identified by the Division of Public Health must immediately stop participating and instead quarantine, the release said.

The Division of Public Health can now issue cease-and-desist orders to any team with high or increasing levels of COVID-19 cases or that does not comply with the requirements, the release said.

Since the spring, Carney has issued rounds of statewide restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19 in Delaware and avoid overrunning hospitals with patients.

Even though cases and hospitalizations this winter are worse than they have been since the start of the pandemic, restrictions are not as harsh as they were in the spring.

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Carney has said that an economic shutdown similar to what he implemented at the start of the pandemic would not be feasible again.

Contact Sarah Gamard at (302) 324-2281 or sgamard@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGamard.